Always with You
by Dragneel-Fluffernutter
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto, and the final battle. Sakura knows what's bound to happen, and rushes to the battlefield, hoping the he doesn't die, wait, so who doesn't die? R


**Full Summery:** Sasuke is back, and waiting for Naruto-The Rokudaime- for the final battle, Sakura knows what the outcome will probably be, and rushes to the battlefield, to keep her worst fears from coming true…the death of the person she loves, but who is it?** .:tragic towards the end, Manga-based and SPOILERS! Be up to date on Manga if you do not like them, PAIRING: Sakura/? Read and find out!:.**

**Disclaimer:** Naruto belongs to Kishimoto, I made nothing, except for this story idea.

* * *

"Naruto!" Tsunade yelled while bursting into the Rokudaime's office, causing the blonde to jump "better be good…" he said, gesturing toward the broken door "it is. It's The Valley of End! I think you'll want to see this…" no more words were needed, Naruto's eyes widened as he quickly left the office, his Hokage cloak curling at his feet. Naruto was one of the three Hokages to abandon the traditional Hokage robes, and stick to something better for moving in, he wore his regular ninja outfit with a cloak that looked just like Yondaime's, except it was orange with back flames on the bottom, with "Sixth Hokage" on the back (he claimed it was cooler than Minato's). As the Kage hurriedly left his office, he failed to notice a certain silver haired Shinobi was standing by the door, and heard everything "Sasuke…" he mumbled, and vanished in a poof of smoke, to inform a certain Kunoichi on the situation.

The village made a clear path for Naruto and Tsunade, so they could quickly make it out of the village, they knew their Hokage well enough to know what that look on his face meant, they knew all his emotions and facial expressions pretty much,

Happy/Excited: meant he was willing to talk to anyone, and would take as many of Sakura's punches as she felt necessary, it didn't matter, he was feeling good.

Neutral: boy did this throw everyone for a spin, you may think this was fine, but this was one of the most dangerous ones, this meant his emotion was a blank canvas, ready for the blue paint of depression, or the red paint of fury to be splashed all over it. Oh yeah, it was bad

Sad/Depressed: this meant he was grieving over a lost comrade, or was feeling the huge burden of responsibilities hit him all at once, so he needed someone to cheer him up and talk to him, or he wouldn't do much of anything, it worked best if it was a friend.

Angry: DO NOT TALK TO HIM UNLESS ABSOLUTLY NECCECARY! Only his-ever changing-team 7could help him there, (A.K.A. Sakura, Sai, Yamato, or Kakashi)

Now? He was determined, so they knew not to interrupt him from his train of thought, or try and talk him out of it, he was stubborn as a mule and would not for the life of him back down, few people dared trod on that path, and those people were Sakura, Yamato, Tsunade, Kakashi (rarely), and sometimes Shikamaru, but normal bystanders knew better, Naruto would just yell "shut up! I know what I'm doing so get out of the way" and Etc. so they let him charge past, especially for this case, they could tell from that undying fire in his eyes, the ones that burned with a passion to show Sasuke how much hurt he caused, but not with words… with a fight to the death. The unchangeable destiny for the Uzumaki and Uchiha, the two most powerful ninjas from Konoha.

{ O- }

"I think it's Sasuke, and you remember what Naruto said about the next time they fight?" Kakashi said to the pink haired girl who was currently at work. Sakura's eyes watered as she recalled what he had that day at the bridge, when Sasuke killed Danzo: "when you and me fight…we'll both die…" he had said, more serious than ever before. Sakura wiped her tears away and ran out of the Hospital, after the orange nin.

{ O- }

Naruto, with the agility of a fox, hopped from tree to tree, he ordered 'Baa-chan' to stay in the village, and that if he didn't return within 3 hours, to come after him. And so he left "you didn't even say 'goodbye' to that Sakura chick" Kurama stated with shock, Naruto smirked "I don't have to… she'll find me before then…she's smart" he said, while picking up the pace.

After a good 5-10 minutes, Naruto landed on the statue of the First Hokage. Standing parallel to him, was Sasuke himself "didn't think you'd show…" Sasuke chuckled evilly, Naruto bared his pointy teeth (not as much so as Kiba's). "Sasuke… do have any idea what you've done?" he growled, Sasuke chuckled "save your breath! No lecture will work on me…" he snapped, Naruto nodded, and slipped something shiny and silver out of his pocket, and tossed to Sasuke. Sasuke caught it and looked upon its scratched surface "this again, I told you, we're not equal!" he yelled as Susano'o appeared from behind the black haired man, Naruto scoffed "don't think I didn't come prepared!" he yelled, and with that, the Kyuubi's chakras enveloped him, and his cloak seemed to catch fire with the bright chakra "DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Naruto yelled as he jabbed a thumb to his chest…the battle had begun.

{ O- }

Sakura ran as fast as her feet would allow, but when she made it to the gate, Tsunade-shishou was there. "Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura asked hesitantly "what's…?" Sakura didn't need to ask, Tsunade merely looked down as a tear ran down her ageless cheek, Sakura held back tears "I-I think…we may lose our Rokudaime today…" Tsunade's voice cracked, Sakura bit her lip, it must be hard for Tsunade to think about, since Naruto was either like a little brother or son, Sakura couldn't tell. Sakura looked up confidently, as her tears dried up some, she bawled up her fist "no. that won't happen, not today!" she said and darted out of the gates

{ O- }

Sakura gasped as she arrived to the battlefield, Naruto in Bijuu mode, fully transformed into the nine-tails, and Sasuke using full Susano'o. Sakura thought it best to stay in the sidelines, or she could get killed… An explosion, and Naruto wore out Kurama's chakras, and Susano'o was destroyed, and Sasuke probably was to wait awhile to rebuild Susano'o. but there they stood, facing each other at the waterfall, Sakura examined Naruto closely, he was in Sage Mode, he was powering up Rasengan, and Sasuke was using Chidori. As they charged, Sakura had flashbacks of both her team mates, and compared them to what it was now. Thinking on it, she should have noticed, but only Naruto and Kakashi did, and only Naruto could stop him.

**.:Flashbacks:.**

Sakura watched from the crowd as Sasuke appeared, and cheered her heart out. Not only had she pretty much ignored her other team mates match, but whished for only Sasuke to be Chuunin, back then, she didn't care about Naruto, or his feelings, she labeled him 'weak' and 'baka', that's was all he was… or so she thought, she was blown away by Sasuke's new Justsu, Naruto could never do that! Poor little Sakura was in for a surprise though.

{ O- }

It was the day after the 'mini war' and Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and their Sensei were going to train, Sakura was even more all over Sasuke today though, and it was beyond him as to why. Until finally, while Naruto was trying to learn Chidori, Sakura huffed in content

'That brat has nothing on Sasuke! He saved me from that sand guy, Gaara! Naruto could never do that!' Sakura's inner quipped, Sakura agreed with herself, but then remembered, she never thanked him.

"u-uh, Sasuke-kun!" she called out shyly, he turned with a 'hn?' expressionless as ever. Sakura fidgeted like Hinata for a bit before saying "thank you for saving from the sand" she said, Sasuke huffed "that wasn't me… it was Naruto…" he grumbled distastefully, Sakura blinked "wh-what? No, your just being modest Sasuke-ku-" before she could finish, Kakashi interrupted "no he's right, it was Naruto…" he said, then sweat dropped as he watched Naruto attempt Chidori

"n-no…that's…" Sakura was dumbfounded.

'Naruto?'

{ O- }

Sakura should've seen it then, as she stood there crying her eyes out, pleading to him "please… this is a once in a lifetime request… please bring Sasuke back to me!" Naruto saw her sad face, he just looked at her sadly "you really do love him… don't you… I understand how you feel…I'll bring him back" he had answered, beck then, she couldn't have been happier, she couldn't tell by the pained smile on his face "I understand how you feel…" he pretty much confessed right then and there, in the most subtlest of ways. And now, she knows what he wanted to say "Sakura, I've loved you for so long… but you love someone else… Sasuke… and your in the same situation as me… I understand that… so for you, I will bring him back, regardless of my own pain…" that was what his eyes said… but she was so naive, she couldn't tell.

And when she stood outside the hospital door that day, hearing the damage that was done, Chouji was lucky to be alive, Neji was severely injured and close to death, and Kiba had stabbed himself to get the enemy, Shikamaru was lucky enough to get off with just a broken finger, and Naruto was half dead, due to his Kyuubi chakra eating him up, and the wounds inflicted by Sasuke and the guy he fought before that. Sakura thought, _after all that sacrifice, surely they brought Sasuke-kun back_!

But when she found out she was wrong, she nearly broke down in tears…

_"so you mean…" _  
_"yeah… **he got away**…"_

Sakura stood wide eyed, she felt like running away, _how could Naruto do this?_ she had thought, but heard them talk more

_"I'm sorry man… *sigh* this is so troublesome"_  
_"but… how am I going to face Sakura-chan again?… I-I promised her… it was the promise of a lifetime…"_  
_"I'm sure she'll understand, I mean look at you! You tried your best, and even got yourself hospitalized for her, it's be a drag if she came in her, and would be stuck up, and self centered enough to complain that you didn't stop that Uchiha!"_  
_"I guess…"_

Shikamaru was right… look at Ino, sure she liked Sasuke too, but she went straight to her team mate… the one who was the least attractive one… if it were Sakura, she'd run straight to Sasuke. She wouldn't care about Naruto… she didn't care about Naruto… and that's what made her cry, the reality of how cruel she was.

And when she saw Naruto, wrapped head to toe in bandages, she felt horrible. Especially when he looked so _guilty_… Sakura made him guilty… and she felt horrible… this wouldn't happen again, she'd do something, and she'd stop crying!

And… she'd have faith in her partner…in Naruto

**_~"next time… we'll get him together…"~_**

{ O- }

Sakura frowned as she walked into his hospital room, Naruto had failed to bring Sasuke back again… despite Sakura's protests, he does it, and gets beaten senseless in the process, and poisoned by her own Kunai…but he still does it… and he still smiles

"ne! Sakura-chan!" he said while quickly sitting up, wincing out of pain… but he smiles… Sakura's eyes watered as salty tears began to run down her cheeks as she sat by him. Naruto flinched, and got the wrong impression "ah! S-Sakura-chan! Don't worry! I'll definitely bring him back! I promi-"

before he could finish Sakura stood "no you baka! I'm crying because you keep going after him, you keep getting beaten by Orochimaru, and you come back… still smiling! It' my fault this is happening, so at least cry or something… to make me feel bad!" Sakura yelled, Naruto blinked "why would I want to make you sad?" he asked, Sakura groaned "because! I made-I made you make t-that stupid p-p-promise…" she sobbed on his bed, Naruto set a head on her head "Sakura-chan-" he started "no! don-" "Sakura-chan!" he raised his voice, Sakura blinked, then wiped some tears from her eyes "if I came crying to you… blaming you… hurting you… that would hurt me one hundred times worse than a couple of flesh wounds!" he said gripping her hand tightly "b-but… I don't want you to die…" she said quietly, Naruto shook his head "that won't happen… not until I become Hokage!" he announced while jabbing his chest with his thumb.

…And he smiled… and she smiled…

{O- }

"o-oh, I see… I won't pry into who it is, but he must be great if you like him" he said as he walked out of the tent, Sakura frowned as she thought of her first crush… _Sasuke_… it was a silly crush, nothing more, but when he said that, she couldn't help but think of the complete opposite person, and yet, he was similar to her current crush… it was unexplainable… they both had lonely childhoods, but Sasuke was the most accepted person besides the Hokage himself, the other one was the least accepted by everyone, and considered a weakling. But it was this understanding and loneliness, that proved to be a great weapon, or-more like-bridge… yeah, he was the bridge to peace… the bridge to understanding… it was that one boy who brought the Akastuki around, so they destroyed the village, and started the fourth great ninja war.

But it was also that boy who saved the village.  
That boy, who surpassed his masters, sensei's, and sempai's, at the age of 16.  
That boy, who had a big enough heart to be able to take on all the hate and pain of war. That boy, who took on the dreams, of his master and fellow disciple, that they did not finish, or go about the right way with.  
That boy, who defeated all six paths of pain, and when he confronted the real one… the Pein who destroyed our village, and killed our sensei… and his master… had the willpower to not murder him first hand, and was able to, for a moment grasp true peace.

Yes that boy… the boy who went by many names over the past years, such as, he was the "demon child" the "punk" the "brat" the "world's most unpredictable ninja" the "Hero of Konoha" the "miracle boy", and the one Sakura loved the most "Uzumaki Naruto", yeah, she was in love with that crazy, ramen loving, hyperactive, blonde, hero… Uzumaki Naruto… she didn't care, and the greatest part about it all? The realization of it all.

~**_"Are you ok?… Sakura-chan?"~_**

**.:End Flashbacks:.**

"NARUTO!" she cried out, as she tried to heal him, Sasuke was already dead, but she could care less right now… her best friend, her team mate, and the man she loved, was dieing in her arms, she managed to keep him barely alive all this time, but she needed help… but none would come… so, she would heal him! She had too!

She poured her chakra, no, her very essence, into him, as she tried to bring him back "no, no, no, no! I-I can't let you die…I love you too much…" Sakura sobbed hopelessly as her chakra began to run out "Naruto…" she cried, as she felt his slow heartbeat

***THUMP THUMP***

"please don't do this…"

***THUMP THUMP***

"stay with me…"

***thump thump***

His heartbeat got fainter

***thump… thump***

"N-Naruto…?"

***thump….***

Silence…Sakura cried "N-Naruto….NARUTO!" she yelled into the cloudy sky, and rain poured on her. he was always frighteningly loud… but it was more frightening when he was silent…she wanted his smile… she wanted him to grin and tell her it's ok… that he wont die… not until he was Hokage… but… he was Hokage… his dreams had been accomplished… what more would he want?…

Sakura grasped his hand tightly, as if it would bring him back "I… I'm so sorry!…I'm sorry I was blind… I'm sorry I saw through you… like you weren't there… and I'm so, so sorry I made you promise to bring Sasuke back!" she yelled "there were… so many things I didn't get to say… but… at least you got your dream… you were Hokage… but it just makes me sad… I kinda wish you weren't Hokage now… but your dreams are fulfilled… so what else do you need?…right?…" she finished her confession, and brought her head to her knees, sitting on the muddy ground, crying. It was her fault… all her fault… she never should have made him make that stupid promise… this wouldn't have happened… it was her fault… and the image of his pained face as she asked him to bring Sasuke back was burned in her memory…

***thump…***

Sakura's head snapped up. 'what was that?' she asked herself, _'probably my own heartbeat…'_

***thump… thump***

_Again?_

***THUMP… THUMP***

"N-Naruto..?"

***THUMP THUMP… THUMP THUMP…THUMP THUMP***

Sakura-who was already holding Naruto's hand-felt him grip her hand back, she gasped and saw his eyes barely open, but his mouth held a wistful smile "but Sakura… my dreams not over yet…" he said roughly, responding to her earlier comment "wh-what?…" she whispered quietly through her tears "I never said my full dream…" he coughed, Sakura's eyes widened "then… what…?" Naruto gave a small chuckle "my dream… was to become Hokage… then eventually… make you my wife…" he rasped with a small smile. Sakura smiled and cried more "well… expect your dreams to come true soon…" she sobbed, receiving a 'heh' from Naruto "but first… the Hospital…" she said with a smile.

{ O- }

Everyone was more than happy to see their Hokage returned, and were cheering for both of them as Sakura carried the half-dead man back to the hospital. When they arrived, Hinata had feinted, and Ino nearly shrieked, but Shizune stopped her (only to start rambling rather shrilly (but Naruto told her to shut up)). And finally, after a long night a intensive care, Naruto was finally moved back to the Hokage estate into his own bed, because he refused to stay in a bloody hospital.

Sakura had stayed there with him-in the guest room-to keep an eye on him, and personally heal him, and she found she rather enjoyed watching him sleep as the sun rose. The way the golden light danced on his already golden hair, plus the look on his face as he woke up was priceless, especially when she was watching, he would look adorable as he yawned and stretched, but when he saw her, he would jump back with his eyes wide, and his face red, Sakura would just laugh. Much to his disapproval.

But now, he was healed and back in his office, and Sakura was his personal assistant. They announced they were getting married, and that caught everyone off guard (Hinata fainted again), and some people whispered "when did they start dating?" but cheered nonetheless (though some of Naruto's fan girls cried, even the ones from Suna and the Hidden Cloud Village) but don't worry, Gaara and Bee talked some sense into them

[ O- ]

Naruto was lazily leaning on the railing of the balcony, eyelids half closed, but a voice snapped him out of his stupor "aren't you cold?" Sakura asked as she joined him, he just laughed "that's the man's line, ttebayo!" Sakura huffed "well, deal with it…" she said as she walked past him to the railing, Naruto hugged her from behind "no complaints here" he said happily, and Sakura chuckled "and Naruto, just because all your dreams came true, doesn't mean you can die on me now, ok?" Sakura teased, Naruto smiled "my dreams will never be over, I will keep building up dreams on top of my current ones, like now, I want our kid to be a greater Shinobi than me and you, and I want to give it the parental love I never had…" he said wistfully, Sakura laughed "you think ahead, huh?" he chuckled "yeah, I guess" he said. The silence was loud, yet beautiful, then Sakura saw something flash in the sky "a shooting star!" she called out and pointed to the sky. She closed her eyes as it went out of sight "what'd you wish for?" Naruto asked, Sakura laughed "I can't tell you silly"

_**~"I wish… for us to always be together like this… that is my wish"~**_

**End Note:** ok, so there it is! Wanted to base of the final showdown of Sasuke and Naruto that is mentioned in the series, but its too boring to just have one huge fight scene, so I added flashbacks of scenes that I wanted to write on. Two birds with one stone! The main "theme song" I guess would be "For You", the 12th ending in Naruto Shippuden, and I listened to it mostly while writing and proofreading, and it goes well with most of it, the other songs would be "Freedom" and "Bluebird" (also from Naruto Shippuden) and the song "Sadness and Sorrow" works well for when Naruto "dies" XD

So tell me what you think, no flames, but constructive criticism is welcome! R&R plz!

Unless you skipped the entire story just to read the end note, which I don't know what kind of weirdo would do that O.o, but if you did do that, best of luck to you weirdo! *waves*


End file.
